Hello girls???
When I saw this headline in The Oklahoman for July 6, 1926, “Hello Girls In Course of One Day’s Work Say About Everything Except Hello,” I had to stop and read the story. I’ll admit it wasn’t what I was expecting.
The story was about the telephone operators of the Bell Telephone company switchboards. It begins:
“Hello girls” never say “Hello.”
Have you ever heard your telephone operator say “Hello?”
No, and neither has anyone else. But people have referred to all girls at the telephone switchboards for a number of years as “Hello girls.”
“Hello” is not in the vocabulary of the Bell Telephone operators. Their lines are many but stereotyped ones. Their lines go to hundreds of thousands of persons who always answer calls with “Hello.” But that “kind of line” is not ever used by the operators themselves.
Then what is the “line” of the young woman who is the medium between you and the person with whom you desire to talk?
“Number please” is the first letter in the operator’s book of A B C’s. That is the only permissible phrase for her to answer your signal with when your receiver is off the hook, indicating that you want her services.” (Remember this was the era of party lines and the switchboard operator actually connected you with your party.)
The article goes on to give the rest of the “letters” in the operator’s book continuing with “What number please,” “They do not answer,” and “That line is out of order.”
The article concludes with, “These four stock phrases are supposed to care for all business that a telephone operator has with person she serves. So they plainly are not “Hello” girls.
There are 348 telephone girls in Oklahoma City. In one year’s time in Oklahoma City there are 87,800,000 calls placed by telephone operators who never use the word “hello.” (Boy, has that changed.)
Further research in The Oklahoman’s archive found the first reference for “Hello Girls” in a 1902 headline announcing the setting of telephone poles to Bridgeport leading to the start of telephone service. The last mention where the phrase was used as a current term for telephone operators was in the 1950′s.
Now, of course, we have directory assistance operators, and, somehow, I can’t imagine them being called “Hello Girls.”
Mary Phillips
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